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Half of New York State’s school superintendents think their school districts will run out of money within four years, and 70 percent believe they will not be able to fund required programs within the same period, according to a new survey.

Perhaps play is not the opposite of work, but synonymous with it. This theory is emerging from a growing body of scientific evidence, reviewed here by the University of Georgia, showing education is not the same as disinterested drudgery: For children and adults, "play is an important mediator for learning and socialization throughout life."

The Liberty (N.Y.) Central School Board of Education has released the names of its two finalist candidates for the position of superintendent of schools. Finalist interviews are scheduled for the week of December 3.

A Washington state community is wracked with controversy after a Longview mother posted photos to Facebook of an "isolation booth" for young students at a local elementary school. Ana Bate, who posted the photos, says the images were taken at Longview's Mint Valley Elementary School. They depict a free-standing padded room that has two peepholes, air holes in the ceiling for ventilation and a metal bar that locks the door from the outside. The photos have gone viral and ignited a storm of criticism.

Gov.-elect Jay Inslee is naming Renton Schools Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel as his new chief of staff, reaching outside the ranks of Olympia insiders and Capitol Hill staff to fill a position vital to his success in running state government.

Bills expanding the reach of Detroit's Education Achievement Authority to become a statewide school reform district are progressing in the Michigan Legislature's lame duck session. The House and Senate education committees Thursday adopted amended versions of the bills, but are working out details about how failing schools could leave the EAA.

A crowd of more than a thousand students, parents, and teachers packed First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem last night to hear mayoral hopefuls pitch their plans to improve the city's fractured educational system. The candidates continued to distance themselves from many of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's educational policies with denouncements of school closings and co-locations.

The Camden N.J. Board of Education expressed its support for the KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy proposal, reversing its prior position on the matter. The board's approval of the KIPP plan was due to two board members - Sean Brown and Kathryn Ribay - changing their votes on the proposal. Ribay said she would only support the proposal if the promise of negotiating a contract was put in writing. And so, a contract negotiation clause was added to the resolution.

Citing chronically poor student performance ratings, West Virginia's Board of Education again voted to fire Jorea Marple as state schools superintendent Thursday after fielding harsh criticism over her dismissal. Two former board members and at least seven active or retired teachers were among the 19 speakers who praised Marple, denounced her firing or called for her reinstatement during the meeting's 90-minute public comment period.

Preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Education this week shows that Texas — along with five other states — ranks fourth in the nation for its four-year high school graduation rates. With an overall rate of 86 percent in the 2010-11 school year, the state follows Iowa, with 88 percent, and Wisconsin and Vermont, both at 87 percent.